A new form of racing is set to debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway this summer.

On Aug. 10 and right after the X Games in Los Angeles, the Global Rallycross Championship will take place at AMS.

“The addition of the Global Rallycross Championship to the 2013 Atlanta Motor Speedway schedule brings a highly-unique event featuring international competitors in an ultimate test of driving skills,” AMS President and General Manager Ed Clark said.

“We are really excited to be in this market,” Global Rallycross Championship CEO Colin Dyne said. “This is a great market for action sports. ESPN, which is our partner in the series, loves the idea of coming to Atlanta.”

For those not familiar with the sport, Global Rallycross Atlanta will feature 10 drivers making drift turns and jumps along with racing on dirt, asphalt and through water. The vehicles also have the capability to reach 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds.

“It’s going to be a challenging course and fun for the spectators,” Clark said. “We certainly want to make it fun for the competitors as well. The course will feature a long jump which is longer than the jump at GRC events. Those guys will be getting a lot of air to cool those tires off.”

One of the competitors will be Ford Fiesta driver and two-time Formula Drift champion Tanner Foust.

“I tell people all the time the car is scary and trying to kill me,” Foust said. “That is just what it feels like.”

Other top drivers scheduled to race at Global Rallycross Atlanta are Ken Block, Brian Deegan, Bucky Lasek and Dave Mirra.

“With the straight away here, there will be a lot of high speed,” Foust said. “This is the biggest jump we’ve ever had at a GRC race because we can use so much dirt and not have to clean it up very quickly.”

“This is truly a lifestyle event,” Clark said. “The market is younger. This is something that is new and on the cutting edge of motorsports. The cars are certainly not typical of the cars we see here at Atlanta Motor Speedway so this is something we are really excited about.”

The same goes for his son.

“When my 20-year-old heard what the event was and who was going to be here, he was like my whole group is in,” Clark said. “So I knew we had something good.”

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